our-yoga

This morning, I did full primary and second up to Ardha Matsyendrasana. Why no Karandavasana? Well, my SI joint has been feeling dodgy the last few days. In particular, during full primary on Saturday morning, I felt this twinge in my right SI joint area as I was getting into Kurmasana, and for the rest of the day, my back just felt wrong. I couldn't sit for more than half an hour without feeling my lower back stiffen up.

So this morning, I decided to work slowly from primary. I paid special attention to the first few postures, especially the Suryas. In particular, in Surya B, I tried to apply a few of the things that PakistaniAshtangi recently shared from her workshop with Dena Kingsberg (I'm quoting directly from PakistaniAshtangi's notes here):

(1) "Go deep (and I mean deep) into a squat in the Utkatasana bit – this will help develop strength in the legs needed for standing up from UD, while also developing your ability to do Pasasana (by stretching the Achilles tendons) – then come up from the deep squat to lift the hands overhead, and come up far enough so that your back becomes comfortable (i.e. not scrunched, no butt sticking out), and neck comes up last. When folding over on the next out-breath don’t straighten your legs until your torso is flat against your legs, then straighten the legs. When jumping back, land with arms straight so you can set up your Chaturanga by rolling the shoulders back, lifting the heart, and squeeze the bandhas tight, then lower to chaturanga."

(2) "In upward dog: Keep feet pretty close together, no more than hip width apart (though Dena actually does it with her feet touching to get the maximum effect). When you protect the lower back with your bandhas this will, apparently, minimize strain and pain in lower back and make the other, stiffer parts of the back bend. All toes should press into the floor, and there should be a tension, a stretch, pulling your toes one way and your chest/upper body the other way – which is really important, Dena talked a lot about stretching things in two directions, the tension between two ends of a pose. Only that way will you get the backbend you want."

I discovered that paying attention to all these things really helps you to get so much more out of Surya B. By the time I finished standing, I felt strong enough to go through primary. I tried to apply the same things that Dena emphasized in Surya B to the updog portion of the vinyasas: I realized that I have a tendency to just kind of move quickly through the updogs without paying too much attention to the posture. I discovered this morning that emphasizing the concept of there being an active tension (pulling toes one way, upper body/chest the other way) really makes a difference in stretching and lengthening the front body in between the many forward bends of primary.

When I got to Kurmasana, I paid close attention to getting into the postures without trying to push or yank my way into position. To my pleasant surprise, there were no unpleasant sensations in Kurmasana. I even managed to sit up and get into Supta Kurmasana via Dwi Pada Sirsasana without incident.

Through it all, I think that being mindful of one's breath and movement and paying attention to the bandhas really help to make the practice safe and productive. Speaking of bandhas, I just read Kino's latest blog post. She was teaching her workshop in Chicago last week, and met Richard Freeman (who, incidentally, was conducting a Teacher's Intensive in Chicago at the same time) for coffee and attended his yoga philosophy class. In this class, Freeman discusses Shankaracharya's views on mula banda. Here's Kino's notes on Freeman's talk:


"Mula Bandha – 114

yanmulam sarvabhutanam yanmulam cittabandharam/
mulabandhah sada sevyo yogyo’sau rajayoginam

That which is the root of all existence and on which the cessation of the mind is based is called mulabandha, which should always be served since it is fit for raja-yogis.

Richard says that mula bandha is the cessation of thought so it cannot be something you think or try to do. It is more of a seva, which means service or to attend to and the idea is that mula bandha is treated like a deity and you do seva to the deity at the sacred temple sitting deep within the pelvis. The balancing of energies on the pelvic floor is the way to consecrate the temple and then the goddess serpent Kundalini will stand up when she wants to. The voyeur of the ego prevents the goddess from awakening because you have to invite her as the sacred flame at the root of the pelvic floor so that she inhabits the temple. Mula bandha according to Richard is not a mechanical thing but more like a devotional experience. He suggested doing a bhakti puja to Ganapti in the pelvis to get mula bandha and to invite the god into the temple at the base of the pelvic floor. In the form of the goddess, “sri” is her name. Then with a cheeky smile Richard said that this is the secret part of the lineage and that he shouldn’t have even told us this. I thought for a moment about not sharing his definition of mula bandha but I decided to share it anyway. I hope I haven’t committed an Ashtanga crime."

I find all this really fascinating, especially the idea that mula bandha isn't actually something you do or engage. The idea, as I understand it, is that our daily practice is a daily act of service and devotion to this sacred power that we all possess deep within the pelvis. Over the course of consistent practice, the kundalini will arise of its own volition "when she wants to." Seen in this light, we don't actually try to achieve anything through the practice; the practice is more like the actions of plowing the soil of our being, planting the seeds and watering them consistently. The fruit (kundalini) will arise when the time is ripe. Or, as Guruji would say, "Do your practice, and all is coming."

Speaking of Kino's workshop, on a more personal note, I can't help noting that I was at her Chicago workshop around this time last year. I just couldn't find the time (or money) to go this year, because I am already doing quite a bit of traveling in the next few weeks for academic purposes. You know, when I read about her encounter with Richard Freeman, I couldn't help wondering: What if I had gone to her Chicago workshop last week? If I had, perhaps I would also have had the good fortune of meeting Freeman myself too, if I were thick-skinned enough to shamelessly hang around Kino, and maybe "shadow"/borderline-stalk her to that Starbucks at the time when she met Freeman (hmm... you didn't know I am a yogic stalker, did you? :-)). Well, you know, maybe I could just hang around for a few minutes outside the Starbucks, and then "coincidentally" show up at the Starbucks ("Hey, Kino, you're here too! What a coincidence! Oh, aren't you Richard Freeman? I'm such a great fan of your book (although I haven't actually read it...")). Oh well, I just realized how ridiculous all this is starting to sound. Well, now you know what a ridiculous person I am... 
   

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I just saw the above video, in which David Garrigues explains the mechanics of mula bandha in very clear and succinct terms, combining an intimate knowledge of pelvic anatomy with the energetics and mechanics of engaging mula bandha. Definitely a pleasure to watch and listen to. I have a couple of thoughts on his explanation:

(1) Early in the video, David gives us an overview of the structure of the pelvic area. He explains that what we commonly think of as the pelvic muscles is actually a diamond-shaped group of muscles that are bounded by the sit bones, the pubic bone and the coccyx.

Within this diamond, we can further isolate three groups of muscles. Firstly, the back part of the diamond consists of the anal muscles, which we engage by contracting the anus and engaging Ashwini Mudra. Secondly, the front part of the diamond consists of the urethra muscles, which we isolate by engaging Badroli Mudra (I hope I'm spelling this correctly; I've actually never heard of this mudra before, so I'm transliterating as best as I can by listening to David's explanation). David doesn't go into too much detail about this mudra, but I suspect that we engage this mudra by engaging the muscles that we engage when stopping the flow of urine while urinating.

Thirdly, there is a tendon that separates the anal and the urethra muscles, or the front and the back parts of the diamond, if you will. This tendon is the transverse perineal tendon. To engage mula bandha is to isolate and draw up this tendon, thereby creating the lifting action that we associate with this bandha.

David remarks that isolating this one tendon takes a lot of work over a period of time. As I understand it, he recommends starting with contracting the anus and engaging the urethra muscles in practice; over time, the practitioner will get a finer sense of where exactly mula bandha is.

I'm not sure I really agree with all of this. I'm no expert in mula bandha, but in my own practice experience so far, contracting the anal muscles seems to be a rather counterproductive action. It tends to create unnecessary tension in the glutes, which leads to unnecessary tension in the lower body. At least, that is my experience thus far. Hmm... maybe I should get in touch with David himself and seek more clarification on this. Anybody have any thoughts on this? 

As for engaging Badroli mudra, I think this might be a bit more helpful, at least for me. At any rate, I often find myself engaging the muscles in the front of the pelvis almost without realizing it during practice, and it seems to be working fine for me thus far. As for drawing up the transverse perineal tendon... well, if I can say that I am definitely drawing up on this tendon every single time that I practice (or even every moment of the day, as Sharath would say), then I should be an Ashtanga Rock Star by now, right? :-)

(2) Later in the video, David speaks of the feet (pada), legs and the pelvic region forming what he calls a gross mula bandha. The general idea is that by working on rooting down through the feet and lifting the arches in the Suryas and the standing postures, we get a bigger canvas on which to understand the general workings of mula bandha, and are, in turn, able to gradually apply the insights gained from this bigger canvas to activating the "actual" mula bandha. I really like this explanation. It fits in with the general objective of Ashtanga yoga and indeed, all of hatha yoga, which is to work from the gross to the subtle levels of being.     

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Claudia has recently posted the latest conference notes with Sharath from Mysore, as complied by Megan Riley. They are very compelling to read, providing a wealth of invaluable insights for a home practitioner like me. In what follows, I will reproduce his words (as transcripted by Megan) in bold, followed by some neither-here-nor-there comments from me.

As always, Sharath covers a range of topics. In particular, he talks about the bandhas at some length during this conference, starting with an overview of the bandhas and their significance:

Why are bandhas important?  Sharath explained that many manuscripts refer to the bandhas and he himself refers to what Shankaracharya has written based upon experience and what he learned from his guru.  They are important techniques to keep longevity of life.  Sharath said, though there is not documentation linking bandhas to the phenomena of saints and yogis living much longer than we do today, he would figure that their ability to live for well over 100 years (1,000 years!) was due to their use of these techniques.  Though there are many bandhas, we use three regularly.  Jalandhara Bandha (demonstrated by dropping his chin) is used mostly for Pranayama.  In Mula Bandha we contract the anus and lift up.  Uddiyana Bandha is activated below the navel in the lower abdomen.

Very interesting. I think what Sharath says here speaks to my own experience of the practice thus far. When I first started doing primary series a few years ago, I would feel rather tired after practice, and my energy level tended to be low for the rest of the day. But now, I feel that practice actually helps me to maintain a constant level of energy throughout the day, so that I experience spikes and dips in energy levels less frequently, and when they do occur, they also tend not to be so pronounced. 

I have no way of proving this, but I have a feeling that the relationship between the practice and my energy level started to change when I ceased to see doing the practice as merely physical exercise, and more as a breathing/energetic practice. My personal theory is that when I became more aware of the practice as an exercise in breathing and moving energy through the system, I also began to engage the bandhas more without being fully conscious of it. And bandhas, as we know, are locks which serve to "lock" in our energy, preventing energy leakage. Hence the improvement in my energy levels. And if Sharath is right, I might just live to be a hundred (maybe even a thousand? Hahaha...) if I keep on with my practice. At any rate, I can hope ;-) Damn! Can you imagine people reading Yoga in the Dragon's Den a thousand years from now? Mind-blowing.... 

Anyway, Sharath has more to say about the breath and the bandhas: 

Who is the source for this breath?  God is the source.  Therefore, the supreme energy is the source of our bandhas.  Mula Bandha should be done sitting, walking, all of the time.  Sharath paused to add that it is done all of the time except a few times.  He said “I don’t have to explain this” and laughed.  Bandhas take time—there is no quick one month certificate for Mula Bandha.  Bandhas will help the asanas to develop energy inside us and bring stability to the body and mind.  Some asanas are also good for developing the bandhas.  Navasana, Utpluthih, and lifting up in our jumpbacks help us to strengthen the bandhas.  This is why he makes us do them longer in led practices.  Also, he added, it is fun for him.  He goes on to demonstrate other places where we can work the bandhas properly.  He demoed the jumpback from Utkatasana (not a half handstand but more of a lift of the lower body) and from Virabhadrasana I (same but with one leg behind).  These were not high lifts but very controlled.  Sharath attempted an advanced posture but said he should wait because he had breakfast already.  Finally, he got into Padmasana and showed us how to draw in the lower belly.  He said he sees many students allowing the lower belly to move quite a bit while breathing.  The breath should be free, without struggle, breathing only with the lungs.

Very interesting. I think what he says here about the bandhas helping the asanas to develop energy inside us confirms my personal theory above about the relationship between seeing the practice as a breathing/energetic practice and engaging the bandhas. If you treat asana practice as a purely physical set of exercises, then its benefits for you will be limited to the level of the physical. In order to draw upon the energetic benefits of the practice, one has to shift the way one approaches the practice, because what happens on the level of our minds affects what happens (or does not happen) on the energetic level. At any rate, this is my theory. 

I like what he says about Navasana and Utplutih helping to strengthen the bandhas. I've noticed over the years that quite a few senior teachers like to make people hold these postures for longer in led practices. Well, now I know they are not doing this just because they like to see the suffering expressions on our faces :-) 

And one more thing: All this talk of bandhas is making me curious about what Sharath would have to say about using the image of breathing through the anus as a way of engaging the bandhas. Somebody in Mysore right now should seriously ask him this question... but maybe this is asking too much of folks in Mysore. After all, I don't know if I would be able to muster the courage to ask this question without coming across as being mischievous or even downright disrespectful, if I were in Mysore myself. Well, I guess there's only one way to find out, right?... But anyway, if any of you people who are in Mysore right now are reading this, maybe you can see if you can find a way to ask this question in a respectful way during the next conference? I'm really curious as to what he would say about this...

Earlier today, I watched the above video of a speech that Guruji gave in Lille, France in October 1991. Many thanks to Grimmly for posting it on his blog. Having never met Guruji myself, this is actually the longest speech by him that I have heard. I tend to have little patience for watching lengthly videos of people talking on Youtube; which is why I never saw any previous videos of his speeches that are out there in cyberspace. I know, very unbecoming behavior for an Ashtanga Fundamentalist, right? :-) 

Guruji has a certain compelling presence. He is not fiery or verbally eloquent in the way in which Mr. Iyengar is, but he does have a way of getting your attention, even though his English is rather halting. He talks at great length in this video about yoga practice as a method of curing diseases of the mind and body. In particular, somewhere between the fourteenth and nineteenth minutes of the video, he goes into great length about how the practice is beneficial for people with diabetes. I'm not sure I got everything (I'll probably watch this again soon), but I understand him to be saying that particular postures in primary series such as the Janu Sirsasanas (A, B, and C) and the Marichyasanas, as well as Baddha Konasana, are good for treating diabetes, especially if one does the practice daily for at least six months. At least, that's what I understood him to be saying. But maybe if you have some time, you can watch this video too, and tell me if I am understanding him correctly. Thanks in advance!      

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Over the last couple of days, I have been reading with great interest and thinking about Claudia's recent post about keeping both nostrils active in meditation. I don't normally pay attention to these things. For one, I don't meditate, and I also don't have a regular pranayama practice, mainly because I don't have a teacher whom I trust to teach me pranayama. Besides, it is one thing to mess up my body with incorrect asana practice; why take the further risk of messing up my nervous system with incorrect pranayama practice? But Claudia says something in her recent post that is also applicable to asana practice:

"pay attention after your next practice to how your breathing is functioning.  Chances are your will be breathing evenly through both nostrils, especially if you practiced the Ashtanga method of asana which encourages balance, alignment, use of bandha, drishti and deep breathing with sound."

Immediately after my practice today, just before I settled into savasana, I checked my breathing, and found that I was indeed breathing quite evenly through both nostrils. The practice--in particular, all those backbends in second series or nadi shodhana--must have helped to even out my breathing. And then, after lying in savasana for five to ten minutes, I checked my breathing again, and found that I had reverted to my usual predominantly right-nostril breathing.

Over the last couple of days, after reading Claudia's post, I have been checking my breathing at random times throughout the day. I've noticed that I am predominantly a right-nostril breather: In four times out of any five times that I check my breathing, I find myself breathing mostly or even entirely through my right nostril. Which really isn't so surprising, come to think of it, given the activities that occupy most of my waking hours (teaching, writing, blogging, thinking about teaching, thinking about writing, and thinking about blogging...). Oh, for your info, here's Claudia's list of activities that are associated with right nostril breathing:

1. Physical activity and hard work
2. Eating, evacuating the bowels
3. Risky and heroic feats, and challenging ventures
4. Shatkarma, kunyal rkiya (stomach washing by drinking and vomiting salty water)
5. Intellectual study, mathematics
6. Buying, selling, commerce
7. Travel
8. Presenting in public, addressing an audience
9. Opposition, resistance, debating
10. Riding horse bikes, or motor cycles, or adrenaline expelling ventures
11. For men to attract women

At least three of the activities above (2., 5., 8.) are activities that I partake in regularly. Actually, 1. probably also applies to me, if you count asana practice as "Physical activity and hard work". I also have pretty regular bowel movements (is this too much information? My apologies...). Ha, actually, if running the risk of possibly breaking one's back in Kapotasana and running the risk of landing on my face during jumpbacks count as risky and heroic feats, then even 3. would apply to me as well :-)

For good measure, let's also take a look at Claudia's list of activities that are associated with left nostril breathing:

1. Drinking water or urinating
2. Getting out of bed
3. Calm and silent work, especially if it requires mental creativity
4. Purchasing jewelry
5. charity and helping others
6. Settling disagreements
7. Approaching those in senior positions
8. Religious practices, ceremonies, marriage and initiations of any sort
9. Mantra practice
10. Long journeys
11. Meeting a guru
12. Sowing seeds
13. Anything to do with medicine and treatment of diseases
14. Singing, playing, composing or listening to music
15. For women, participating in sexual relations

I don't really have much to say about this list, since, as I mentioned, I seem to be predominantly a right-nostril breather. Actually, maybe I do have something to say, after all. Consider 10. (Long journeys) and 11. (Meeting a guru). Now consider the fact that I did not make it to Mysore this year. Now could it be that I did not make it to Mysore this year because I was breathing too much through my right nostril and not enough through my left? Sounds crazy, I know. But hey, anything is possible. I should try to breathe more through my left nostril from now on. But if I do this, how am I going to continue to teach, blog, write, and continue to think about teaching, blogging and writing? Very troubling...
  
Any thoughts from all of you seasoned Mysore-goers and/or seasoned left-nostril breathers out there? 


In other news: It appears that my recent post on Fish & Chips or Ashtanga--which has been popular among foodies and has attracted quite a few in the foodie crowd to this blog--has made it to the list of the ten most read posts on this blog. Not that you'd care, but I find it quite amusing, especially considering the fact that I don't even eat fish and chips now. But to all of you foodies who have stumbled upon this blog: Do not let my non-fish-&-chips-eating ways deter you from eating more fish & chips, and, more importantly, try out Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga :-)

In yet other news: I just read this very engaging post over at Jangalikayamane about some common Ashtanga myths. It's a very informative and compelling read: I highly recommend it. In particular, the post has the following to say about mula bandha:

"No amount of explaining is going to help someone understand the subtlety of mula bandha and yet I hear teachers going on and on about what/how/where to find it.

All the long-time practitioners emphasise its importance but rarely will they spend an hour labouring on how to find it. It seems mula bandha just showed up one day during their practice, long after they gave up searching, and I don’t think it was where they had been told to look."

These are very wise words, especially in light of the recent post I wrote about inhaling through your anus. And I agree: Ultimately, no amount of explaining--including exhorting you to inhale through your anus--is going to help you understand the subtlety of mula bandha. Mula Bandha may show up, when it does, when you are in the midst of breathing through your anus. Or it may not. Whatever it is, don't obsess. If you like the idea of inhaling through your anus, do that. If you don't, do something else. Whatever you do or don't do, chances are mula bandha will find you and shower you in its divine grace one day when you are least expecting it. In the meantime, do your practice, and all is coming.    

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I had a very interesting experience during practice this morning. I was in Prasarita Padottanasana D, breathing, grabbing my toes, and doing my best to engage my bandhas. I could feel my bandhas engaging, and the area around the anus and perineum felt very sensitive and charged full of energy. And then it occurred to me that it almost feels like the breath is coming into the body not through my nose, but through my anus! Or at least through the perineal area around the anus.

I can't help feeling that this sensation of inhaling through the anus has a lot to do with the engagement of mula bandha. Of course, this is not expert opinion or anything even close to it; I don't know if visualizing the bandhas in this way--as involving an imaginary inhalation through the anus--is even "correct method". But when it comes to practice, I have always been very into how things feel "from the inside", so to speak. Especially when we are trying to approach something as subtle as mula bandha. I wonder if an explanation like this would be helpful to somebody who is new to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga? (For a list of some other ways of explaining mula bandha that I have encountered over the years, see this post.) Or would it be more confusing than anything else?

At any rate, I can't imagine that such an explanation would be very elegant in a typical yoga class. Picture this: In a serene yoga class in a fancy-looking yoga studio in some nice neighborhood of some nice city. A Lululemon-pants-clad yoga teacher is standing at the front of the class, the rest of the class bent over in Prasarita Padottanasana D. In her soft, soothing "yoga teacher voice", she murmurs, "Now engage and gently rotate your inner thighs inwards. Spread your butt cheeks wide and generous, bring awareness and energy to your anus and perineum. Now inhale through your perineum. And then exhale..." (Students: "What did she just say?! Inhale through the what?!") Meanwhile, in some corner of the room, some student who has too much gas in his belly takes the "exhale" part too seriously, and lets forth a mighty fart, shattering the serene atmosphere of the classroom with the thunder issuing forth from his bowels.  

Well, I'm probably going into too much graphic detail here (should have issued a disclaimer at the beginning of this post. My apologies...). But I'm guessing you can see how this explanation probably might not work in a standard studio environment. But nevertheless, I still find it very compelling, this image of breathing in through the anus. What do you think of this way of explaining and visualizing mula bandha? Is it "correct method"?

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I just started teaching an Ashtanga class once a week at a local studio. For various reasons, I have decided to call it "Vinyasa from the Ground Up" rather than Ashtanga; but the class is very much Ashtanga through and through. Last night, for instance, three people showed up, and I brought the class through the Suryas and standing postures up to Prasarita Padottanasana A and B. I then ended the class with a modified finishing sequence (substituting Bridge for Urdhva Dhanurasana, having a shortened shoulderstand sequence, no headstand, and a simple crossed-leg seated posture in place of padmasana).

Although this is not a mysore class, I plan to teach as closely to mysore style as possible. Which means that I will introduce one or two new postures a class. I think this is a good way to go. It might get a bit challenging as new people arrive later on; maybe when I get to that point, I'll have to get these new people to stop at certain points in the sequence while the rest of the class move on with the postures they have learnt. Hmm... what will these new people do in the meantime? Watch while the "older" students do their postures? I don't know, I'm sure I'll think of something. If you have any suggestions, I'll love to hear them.

What I have done so far (last night was only my second class) is simply bring students through the postures on a purely postural level. I emphasized the breath, drishti and basic alignment, but I did not go into the finer points, like the bandhas. I just thought that somebody who is new to Ashtanga probably already has enough things to contend with, as it is. Perhaps I can talk about the bandhas when the students have come a few more times, and are more comfortable with the sequence.

Talking about the bandhas has always been an interesting topic for me. Different teachers use different descriptions when trying to tell students to engage the bandhas, especially mula bandha. And honestly, I have yet to find a completely satisfactory way of explaining the bandhas, especially mula bandha. Here are a few ways of explaining mula bandha that I have encountered so far:

(1) Squeeze/contract your anus: Guruji is reported to have explained the bandhas in this way. I do not think this is a very helpful explanation. For one, spoken with a certain South Indian accent, "Contract your anus!" is liable to be misheard as "Contact Uranus!" Which would leave the beginning Ashtanga student very bewildered, to say the least ("Wow, who knew that practicing this yoga involves getting in touch with extra-terrestrials?"). 

Joking aside, there are other more practical problems with this explanation. To begin with, strictly speaking, simply contracting the anal sphincter is actually ashwini mudra, not mula bandha. Secondly, anatomically, the action needed to activate mula bandha actually involves a subtle lifting of the perineal muscles; squeezing of the anal sphincter is at most a by-product of this action, and not the action itself.  Moreover, I get the sense that new students tend to overdo the squeezing of the anal sphincter: The result is that other surrounding muscles that do not need to be squeezed or contracted get contracted too, resulting in unnecessary muscular tension and tightness.   

(2) Do the same thing that you would do if you were trying to stop the flow of urine while peeing: This is probably a better way of explaining the bandhas. But--and maybe this is just my body--I have actually tried stopping the flow while urinating, and I am quite sure that while the muscles needed to stop the urine flow are used to engage mula bandha, the actual engagement of mula bandha requires a more subtle action than simply stopping the urine flow. This, at least, is what I feel from my own experience.  

(3) Engage Uddiyana Bandha, and Mula Bandha will tend to follow: Personally, this explanation actually works best for me. I'm not quite sure why, but there's something about gently drawing in that spot about two inches beneath the navel (i.e. engaging Uddiyana Bandha) that also tends to cause me to engage mula bandha almost without being conscious of it. Perhaps it's because I used to practice martial arts, and engaging uddiyana bandha has a lot in common with the actions that are needed in order to access the hara or dantien in Japanese and Chinese martial arts, respectively. Because of this, uddiyana bandha has always been more readily accessible to me than mula bandha. This simultaneous engagement of uddiyana and mula bandhas is most pronounced when one tries to jump back. In order to even try to lift off the mat into Lolasana, one has to engage Uddiyana Bandha (even if one has no idea that one is doing this). This engagement of uddiyana bandha, in turn, also almost automatically causes one to engage mula bandha. Try it; you'll see what I'm saying.   

(4) Do the postures regularly, and you will find yourself naturally engaging the bandhas with time: David Williams is a proponent of this naturalistic approach towards the breath and bandhas. A few years ago, at a workshop, somebody asked him how to breathe during practice. Instead of giving a technical explanation (closing the glottis, Darth Vader sound, etc, etc.), Williams simply said that all one has to do is to keep breathing, and everything else will just fall into place. If I remember correctly, he gave the same response when asked about the bandhas as well: Just breath evenly throughout the practice, and bandha-engagement will come naturally.

These, at any rate, are the explanations of mula bandha that I know about. If you have other explanations, I'll love to hear them. I'm still undecided as to which one I will use when it comes time to explain mula bandha to the students in my class. Maybe I'll use (3), since that is the one that appeals most to me personally. But we'll see.   

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